Razor blade



April 1954 J. B. DE MESQUITA RAZOR BLADEY Filed Dec. 7. 194a R m m w.

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4 TTORA/EX Patented Apr. 6, 1 954 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE i j2,674,039 Y RAZOR BLADE Jules Bueno de Mesquita, New York, N. as signorto American Safety Razor Gorporation, Brooklyn, N. Y.,-a corporationofVirginia I Application December '7, 1948; Serial No. 6%;93'0

1 Claim. (Cl. 30-348) This inventionrelates to safety razor blades, andmore particularly to double-edge Wafer type safety razor blades madefrom relatively thin stock.

One of the principal objects of this invention is to provide a safetyrazor blade of the character referred to which will possess desirablecharacteristics of an extremely thin blade and also those of a thickerblade.-

Safety razor blades of the wafer type, to which the instantinventionpertains, are generally used in safety razors which present anoutwardly curved (convex) seat or saddle and an inwardly (or concavely)curved cap ofsubstantially the same curvature as the saddle. The bladeis placed between thesaddle and cap and the two brought tightlytogether, to cause the blade to flex or conform to the curvature of thecoacting saddle and cap.

A second principal object of the invention is to fabricate a razor bladefrom a steel stock which is relatively thin andso form the blade as toincrease its effective thickness without decreasing its flexibility toenable it to readily. conform to the saddle and cap curvatures;

An allied object is to provide a wafer blade of the type describedhaving increased capacity to readily and more uniformly conform to thecurvature of the razor saddle and cap.

It has .long been recognized that the shaving edge, more accurately anarrowportion of the blade bordering the beveled edge, must be heldfirmly in the razor (i. e., between the saddle and cap) against movementor bending-referred to as fluttering in the art.

Another important object of this invention is to provide a safety-razorblade made from thin stock which possesses the additional advantage ofincreased resistance against undesirable fluttering of its shaving edge.

For the attainment of the foregoing and such other objects as may appearor be pointed out herein, I have shown a preferred embodiment of myinvention in the accompanying drawing, wherein:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the improved razor blade of thisinvention;

Fig. 2 is a greatly enlarged transverse section taken in the line 22 ofFig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a transverse, sectional elevation through a safety razor,showing the improved blade in operative position;

Fig. 4 is a plan view of the instrumentalities used in producing theimproved blade and also illustrating the process thereof; and

.006 inch blade which will have an increasedefie'ctive'thickness withoutdecreasing its flexibility thereby increasing its body, heft andstrength. I have been able to accomplish this by using ribbon stockwhichis .006 inch thick (designated l5 in Fig. 4) and corrugating the same topresent alternate ridges and furrows, best seen in the enlarged showingof Fig. 2. It will be observed that these corrugations or wavytransverse sections imparted to the blade stock remain throughout ofsubstantially the original thickness of .006 inch. Since what appears tobe a ridge when viewed from one side of the blade becomes a furrow whenviewed from the opposite side, the convention is here adopted ofdescribing the ridges andfurrov'v's as seen from above. According tothis convention, the top ridges are designated [6 and the furrows, IT;The peaks of the ridges Hi are on a commonplane defining a uniformlylevel contacting surface on the blade.

In consequence of the corrugations iii-I1, the effective thickness ofthe improved blade is measured by the distance between the top point ofa ridge [6 and the outer (underlying) point of the adjacent furrow IT.This effective distance is, as indicated in Fig. 2, of the order of .007inch. This thickness has been referred to as the effective thicknessbecause for all purposes the improved blade appears to have a thicknessof .007 inch rather than a .006 inch thickness. The height of thecorrugations has been exaggerated in the showing of the various figureshowever only for purposes of illustration.

The corrugations lG-l'l extend in the longitudinal direction of theblade, parallel to its cutting edges 4, 4. The second principal objectof the invention, as briefly pointed out in the statement of invention,was to embody in a blade having the body or heft of a thickerblade-which is the effective thickness of the improved blade, Fig.2---and the flexibility of a thinner blade,

As a consequence of the longitudinally-directed alternate ridges l6 andfurrows H, the improved effectively thicker blade is even more flexiblefor purposes Of curvature by the razor clamping members than if it weremade of the .006 inch stock without the corrugations.

While the corrugations increase the flexibility of the blade from thestandpoint of bending to the curvature of the clamping members, thesecorrugations also reinforce and rigidify the blade from the standpointof handling. When the blade is clamped between the blade clampingmembers, these members engage the tops of the ridges to thus giveadditionally a more effective rigidity to the terminal shaving edgeportions.

It should be observed that the corrugations stiffen the blade in alongitudinal direction, but, on the other hand, increase its flexibilitytransversely.

By reason of the alternate relation of the ridges and corrugations notonly as to their sideby-side disposition but, more particularly, theiralternate disposition as viewed from opposite sides, the improved bladereadily and facilely conforms to the curvature of saddle and cap, asseen in Fig. 3.

Moreover, the restrictive action of the cap and saddle upon the highpoints or ridges adjacent to the beveled orcutting-edges 4, l, stiifensthese free or distal edge portions and prevents fiut- I tering aspointed out in the statement of invention.

The novel wafer blade is formed by passing ribbon steel stock [5, Fig.4., which is of the order of .006 inch thickness between a pair ofrollers 20, 30, see also Fig. 5, which have circular or ring ridges 2T,37, respectively and alternate circular or annular grooves, respectively26, 36. The ring ridges and annular grooves are laterally displaced sothat the ring ridges 21 of the top roller 20 fit within the annulargrooves 30 of the lower roller. As a result, the entering stock I5 iscorrugated to form corresponding ridges l6 and furrows 11.

I After the corrugations l6-i1 are formed in the ribbon stock, it ishardened and beveled to form the cutting edges. It will be observed,best from the enlarged showing of Fig. 2, that the first corrugation,designated l8, [8 adjacent to the two shaving edges 4, 4 are spaced awayfrom these edges. This is to provide straight, uncorrugated edgeportions 18*, H3 immediately adjacent the beveled shaving edges 1, l andsubstantially on the same plane as the peaks of said ridges 16. In orderthat there be provided these uncorrugated edge portions I8 l8 the tworidged rollers 20, 30, Fig. 5, have annular end portions 28, 38,respectively, which clear the edge portions of the ribbon stock.

The width of the uncorrugated end strips or portions 18*, l8 are madesufliciently wide to accommodate tolerance variations in the grinding ofthe beveled edges, without encroaching upon the corrugated portion ofthe improved blade.

Having thus described my invention and illustrated its use, what I claimas new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

A flexible rectangular safety razor blade of the type having opposedbeveled edges parallel to the long dimension of the blade, said bladehaving formed on each of its opposite faces an undulating surface areacentrally lengthwise thereof comprised of alternating furrows andelevations which are parallel to each other and to the beveled edges andextend lengthwise of the blade, all portions of whose cross sectiontaken at right angles to the shaving edges is of the thickness of theoriginal stock for the full length of said cross section, the furrows onone face of the blade underlying the elevations on the other face andbeing in registration therewith, the thickness of the stock being .006"and the height of said elevations being .001" whereby said stockthickness of .006" will give an eifective thickness of .007".

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS NumberName Date 12,268 Booth Jan. 23, 1855 838,568 Numan Dec. 18, 1906 967,500Clark Aug. 16, 1910 1,343,900 Brasier June 22, 1920 1,802,289 Swan Apr.21, 1931 1,838,116 Sheehan Dec. 29, 1931 1,877,758 Kylberg Sept. 20,1932 2,016,770 De Bats Oct. 8, 1935 2,168,406 Harris Aug. 8, 19392,322,744 Benjamin June 29, 1943 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date783,792 France Apr. 15, 1935

